Mid-Season: Inscrutable Drama Kings

Is it mid-season already? Six weeks in and we’re almost done? What gives! Well, the good news is that there are still a lot of post-season berths to be handed out, and the bad news is, well, I won’t be getting one of them. Let’s take a short look at each team. [SMG Mid-Season]

Chunky Monkeys (6-0)
When you’re scoring tops in the league at 128 points per week, plus facing off against the easiest schedule (89.8 pts), it’s not hard to be undefeated. Nobody’s come close to touching Evan so far and it doesn’t look like anyone will impede his way to another playoffs. The question at this point is if he can go undefeated. 5-1 Gang Green will get a shot in WK8, so mark that huge game on your calendar. Philip Rivers and Julio Jones have been incredible, while Randall Cobb and Calvin Johnson have been a bit erratic.

The big question at the moment though, is who will replace the injured Jamaal Charles in the backfield?! Last week Coach Evan was forced to start Danny Woodhead, and that’s likely not sustainable. Rumors swirl that GM Evan is looking to make a big deal to stay on top. Stay by your Batphones gentlemen, Monkeys could be calling!

LA Buffy (3-2-1)
Despite facing the second toughest schedule in the league, Buffy has more than held its own this season, including a crazy 141.3 - 141.3 tie in WK3 against defending champ Tiiite End Jammers. The schedule is very soft for the next three weeks, until a matchup against the Monkeys. Carson Palmer has transformed into a top five quarterback, while Matt Forte continues to quietly dominate, putting up 16.4 ppg, good for #2 RB in the land. Julian Edelman, AJ Green, and James Jones are a superb receiving trio and don’t look now but Arian Foster is back! We can see Buffy kicking it up another notch behind his excellent passing game and Foster.  But is Roger's team ready to challenge Monkeys for a Super Bowl appearance? We'll find out...

Athena Nike (3-3)
We thought this would be a total rebuilding year for Athena but as it turns out, Frank’s team is already back to playoff contention. The pre-draft trades for Rob Gronkowski and DeAndre Hopkins couldn’t have worked out better — they are the #7 and #1 ranked receivers respectively. Plus Jarvis Landry and rookie Amari Cooper are both trending up. This is the best young receiving corps in the league, and with Aaron Rodgers at the helm, the only thing missing for this squad is a running attack.

Carlos Hyde looks great on occasion but he’s stuck on a bad offensive team. The Johnson brothers, Duke and David, just aren’t ready to contribute yet, but maybe one of them will come on soon. After a couple of erratic weeks and three straight losses, Nike seems to have righted the ship and will likely head to the playoffs.

Tiiite End Jammers (1-4-1)
Part of the reason the playoff situations looks pretty set in this conference is that the defending champs are a mess. After dominating from wire to wire last season, Jammers have collapsed. They’ve still got an amazing team on paper — DeMarco Murray, Antonio Brown, LeVeon Bell, Demaryius Thomas, Jeremy Maclin, Vincent Jackson, and a juvenated Giovani Bernard — but they’ve taken some big losses so far this season. Also, Andy Dalton has been averaging 30.6 ppg and is the #2 ranked QB but hasn’t seen the field because of Coach Lei’s insistence on sticking with Russell Wilson, who is averaging almost ten points less per game. There is still too much talent to count this team out but Jammers needs to put it together soon to make a proper playoff push.

Dirty Birds (1-5)
As for another pre-season championship contender, the Dirty Birds, they’re completely out of the post-season picture. They’re averaging a respectable 94.5 ppg (which would rank #3 in the other conference) but facing the league’s toughest schedule has reduced them to rubble in the standings — four opponents have gone 125+ points on them. Despite the presence of Odell Beckam Jr., an ageless Steve Smith (recently cut for some reason), and a surprising Tyler Eifert, Jon’s team can’t seem to get it together.

Oh right, and then there’s arguably the best backfield in the game, Adrian Peterson and #1 rookie Todd Gurley, who has yet to score an NFL touchdown but is showing that he’s going to be great. (Where art though LeSean McCoy? Oh right, getting outplayed by rookie Karlos Williams...) Maybe the problem is at the top with Andrew Luck, who hasn’t been as bad at fantasy as he is in real life, but Coach Jon has recently promoted Eli Manning to the starting position. Eli Manning!?! This team is looking forward to another Toilet Bowl win… Come to me Ezekiel Elliott!

Mid-Season: Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses

An owner texted me this past week to ask why SMG was so weak. I answered back: "tradition." SMG have always had "inferior" teams to IDK, and this season is no different. You would think in about a dozen years a power balance swap would happen. But nope! This year, SMG teams are averaging 92.8 ppg versus IDK's 109.8 ppg. Oh, and the PA for the conferences are 97.1 and 105.5 respectively. So who will be the Leastern Conference's representative in Super Bowl XV? [IDK Mid-Season]

Gang Green (5-1)
Greg’s doing it again! Despite an almost comically star-less roster, Gang Green is headed toward a division title. Their only loss was a 48.3 point blip in WK5, but otherwise this team has been averaging 107.1 ppg. Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall are responsible for 36.9 of those points per week, and Mark Ingram is the #7 RB, ahead of a slew of big names. Oldies but goodies!

Keeper quarterback Peyton Manning has been cut, in favor of Matt Ryan. (Also, don’t look now but Blake Bortles is the #6 ranked QB in the game, and is averaging an incredible 26.7 pts, meaning he should probably start soon.) Sure there’s a pretty big hole at RB#2 — Lamar Miller and Alfred Morris aren’t cutting it — but it’s not like the Greenies have powerhouses chasing after them in the standings. We see Gang Green easily cruising to the playoffs as they magically show us that it’s effort on the field, not the sexy names on your roster, that give you wins.

Fobsters (3-3)
Jimmy’s team made the Super Bowl with a losing record so this 0.500 record must seem like a set back. More losses Jimmy, you need more losses! Actually, those losses could be coming soon, as both top ranked receivers are out for most of the season — Jordy Nelson of the year and Dez Bryant for who knows how long. Travis Benjamin has stepped up nicely but it’s coleslaw after that, with Stevie Johnson, Terrance Williams, Tavon Austin, Jason Witten and others alternating starts. (Also, WTF is a recent waiver wire pickup Gary Barnidge and will he continue his madness?!)

It’s high time for Eddie Lacy to get out of his early season slump, and meanwhile Chris Ivory is alternating big games and lame efforts, albeit enough to get him to #3 RB on the charts. Mostly Fobsters can hang their treading water success on Tom Brady, the best fantasy player in the land, averaging 34.3 points per outing. Tom Terrific could pilot this team to the playoffs, and then Bryant could return and who knows what kind of magic Jimmy could pull together then… Just like last year!

Philadelphia Phreaks (3-3)
The Phreaks are 1-3 at home but 2-0 away, and are 0.500 despite a slightly lower PF than PA. Those three wins have all come when Phreaks eclipsed the century mark, but the other losses have fallen short. The story of the season though, is Devonta Freeman, who has come out of nowhere to lead the all non-QBs in scoring, and is putting up an incredible 9.6+ more points than the second ranked running back.

And while Marshawn Lynch has sputtered in the starting lineup all year, Doug Martin is quietly ripping off 22.8 and 35.3 back-to-back weeks.  Phreaks have started six running backs this year, in an effort to find the right two, and they need to find an answer because Sam Bradford has been pretty awful despite having a rejuvenated Keenan Allen on-board. Ping is hoping Brandin Cooks or Jordan Matthews starts doing something but in the event that nothing clicks, Devonta Have It All will be counted on to drag this team to the playoffs.

Fat Jubas (2-4)
Despite being crushed by 103.8 ppg, Jubas has maintained a semblance of respectability. Aka meaning they are still in the playoff hunt because it’s early in the season. Their next three games are against opponents with a combined 11-5-1 record so it could mark the end of their post-season dreams if they can’t pick up a win. First off, the quarterback situation has been a mess as Ben Roethlisberger is injured, Peyton Manning was nabbed just as he was declining, and now all hopes rest on rookie Tyrod Taylor.

The running game has disappeared too, as CJ Anderson is now almost waiver wire fodder, Jeremy Hill has ceded way to a true time share with Giovani Bernard, and 2015 #2 overall pick Melvin Gordon is fumbling his season away. But hey! Alton Jeffery and Antonio Gates both returned with big games last week and maybe they can team up with Allen Robinson (leading Jubas in points) and Emmanuel Sanders to run-and-shoot their way to a post-season berth?

Battle Angel (2-4)
Welcome to the lowest scoring team in the league. Vu’s squad has put up 83.7 ppg and that’s just not gonna cut it. It’s actually impressive they’ve put up two wins, but both of those were against one-win teams, and the four straight losses from WK2-WK5 are probably more indicative of where Angel is at right now. Drew Brees is still plugging away fantasy-wise but his 18.9 average is only good for #23 ranked QB. Ouch.

There aren’t a lot of other positives here either. Um, TY Hilton has been okay as the #29 ranked WR? Golden Tate proved he’s a one year wonder, Joseph Randle has one good game, rookie Ameer Abdullah isn’t ready yet, and Andre Johnson collapsed fast didn’t he? The only bright spot moving forward is Martavis Bryant, who returned to action with 137 yards and two touchdowns. Can Vu move his team toward a post-season appearance, or will a lack of production and a tough schedule sink them into the Toilet Bowl?